PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
Tim Laatsch
TELEPHONE: (715) 422-4023, OR
Scott Deitz
Telephone: (715) 422-1521
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 19, 2000
CONSOLIDATED PAPERS, INC. TO REDUCE WORKFORCE APPROXIMATELY 10% AS
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PART OF PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED COST-REDUCTION INITIATIVE
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WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. - Consolidated Papers, Inc. (NYSE: CDP) today
announced that it will reduce its total workforce by approximately 10%, or about
700 employees companywide. The reduction, which has already begun, is
anticipated to be about equally divided between hourly and salaried employees
companywide.
The workforce reduction is part of a two-year, more than $100 million
cost-reduction initiative begun in 1999 to make Consolidated Papers more
competitive in the global paper industry. To date, Consolidated Papers has
already achieved more than $60 million in savings through more efficient use of
raw materials, productivity, quality gains and reduction in personnel costs. The
workforce reduction announced today, combined with additional productivity
improvements, supply-chain management activities and customer service
initiatives, will reduce the company's costs at least $40 million by year's end.
"The need to reduce the size of our workforce to become more
competitive in the global paper industry was evident in the early planning
stages of our two-year cost-reduction initiative," said Consolidated Papers
President and Chief Executive Officer Gorton M. Evans. "However,
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given the very serious impact of this kind of action, a special project team
first spent several months considering all of our cost-savings options before
arriving at this difficult decision. Consolidated Papers is committed to
minimizing the effect on all of its employees through this transition, both
those who leave and those who stay."
The salaried workforce reduction, which will exclude Sales & Marketing
and related Customer Service departments, will have two phases - a voluntary
program and an involuntary program.
The voluntary program will offer eligible salaried employees an
enhanced retirement option that will be available for selection until
mid-September. The involuntary reduction of salaried employees will begin soon
after the completion of the voluntary program.
The reduction of hourly positions has already begun and is being
carried out in accordance with existing collective bargaining agreements between
Consolidated Papers and its union-represented employees. These reductions will
continue on a division-by-division and department-by-department basis.
The number of jobs being eliminated at specific Consolidated Papers'
facilities and cities is not available at this time due to the voluntary
component of this workforce reduction. More information will be provided in the
future.
All employees who leave the company as part of this workforce reduction
will be offered professional services including outplacement assistance to find
other employment.
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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements.
Because these forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, actual
future results may differ materially. Certain factors that could cause actual
future results to differ are described in the company's Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended March 31, 2000.
COMPANY PROFILE
Consolidated Papers, Inc. is one of North America's largest producers
of coated and supercalendered printing papers for the printing and publishing
industries. In addition, the company is one of the leading producers of
specialty papers and manufactures paperboard and paperboard products.
Consolidated also produces elemental chlorine-free kraft pulp from virgin wood
fiber for its own use and recycled pulp from printed, preconsumer and
postconsumer scrap paper.
At the beginning of 2000, Consolidated employed approximately 6,800
people. The company is headquartered in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, and
operates manufacturing facilities in Biron, Kimberly, Niagara, Stevens Point,
Whiting and Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, as well as in Duluth, Minnesota.
Consolidated owns and manages nearly 700,000 acres of forestland in
Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ontario, Canada. The company obtains the
fiber required for its papermaking operations from these renewable forests; from
private, national, state and county forests; and from sawmill byproducts and
recycled scrap paper.
To learn more about Consolidated, visit the company's Web site at
http://www.consolidatedpapers.com.
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